Apparatus for protecting gas producers



w. c. DAYTON. I APPARATUS FOR PROTECTING GAS PRODUGERS.

KPFUCATIOH FILED NOV- 6.0917. o Patented Jan. 3, 1922.

Inventor: I

Waltfer C. Da yflon, by w 9r m [UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

warm. cLm'r permi or BUFFALO, new. YOBJI; assxcnon, BY MEsux ASSIGN armors TO GENERAL one easconronunon, or mu'smozl. vmemxa. a.

ronli'rron or vmomm.

uran um roe rno'mc'rmoone niofivcnns.

To all w'lzomit may concern:

Be it known that I, Warmzn Cuxr'Darwon a citizen of the United States, residin at. buffalo, in the county of Erie, State New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Protecting Gas Producers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to an appa ratus for generating gas from liquid combustihlesi. such as fuel oil, audits oh'ect is to prevent injury to the uppnratus y an excessive riseof temperature in the retort due to a more or less complete failure of feed pithe'comhustible."

In ap aratus involvin'g'my invention, as descrihei in U. S. Patent.#l,l74,97fl,a mixture of oil and air is introduced into a retort maintained at-a temperature high enough to cause chemical reaction or partial combustion, resulting in the formation of a ronu lmstihlc fixed gas useful for industrial or domestic heating. Although the'teed device for the oil is designed to reduce'rlogginghy foreign material to a minimum, still this colltingenry is not entirely excluded. I have found that as a result of decrease of oil feed, the temperature in the retort may hecome dangerously high. Temperature indieating devices have proved to he trosluggish in this contingency to prevent damn c to the retort. It also is impracticable to ietect directly the decreased How of oil, as a constant circulation of oil orcurs at all event? to and from the feed device, the excess oil overflowing. and returning to the storage tank 'u'hrthcr or not a stoppage in the feed, valve occurs. in accordance with my invention. l have provided means dependent on the calorific valuo of the gas in the retort f1," indicating: an v disrontiuuitr of oil' feed.

The novel ftlltlli't'R of m invention will he more fully set forth in the following description taken in ronncrtiou with the following drawings which show (liagrummuth rally and partly in section the embodiments of my invcntiom Referring to the drawing. the apparatus comprises a retort l. indicated in dotted outline ithin a houaing, 2 into which is fed through a pipe 3 a mixture of oil and air supplied from a mixing device. hereinafter described. The products of the combustion emerge from the retort through a pipe 4-,

specimen k Patented Jan. 3. 1922 Application and unicorn 6, 911. serial in. 200,591;

the same shaft-12 \iuth the oil pump. The

compressed air or other comlaistiomsupportmg g s, s led through a conduit 13 into the feed device. a A branch phe 14 communi- Clltt 5'\iltll the space ahove the oil in the feed device apdanot er branch pipe 15 communirates withfthe space above the oil in the supply tank 6 0 as to. produce an equilihrluin. The air-under presqure upon passing from pipe 1 3'1nto the conduit 3 expands, therehy caus ng a reduction of pressure at the mouth .of the pipe 16. As the full or nitial air pressure is exerted upon the oil at the auxiliary receiver 9 in winch proje ts 'a short conduit 17 communicatin with the from the conduit 16 and mixes with the air? By pmperly regulating the needle valve with a hand-wheel 19 the feed of oil may he set to giv'e a desired proportionality, the setting bring ohserved by means of a pointer 20.

The mixture of oil and air when introduced into the retort which is heated to :1 tom rature of about 750 degrees C. at the beginning of the operation causes a chemical D0 reaction or combustion with the formation of a fixed combustible gas. As already indicated foreign matter getting into the needle valve 18 causes disturbances of the proportionality of oil and air and thereby produces a high temperature in the retort 1,'which may he sullicie'nt, to cause injury to the retort; in the course of a few minutes.

In accordance with my invention I draw from the conduit. 4. some of the gas through a tube 2| whi h communicates with a rulerimeter 524. The tuhc 9.1 communicates with a gas pump 22 and is thereby led into an expansion rhumhcr 23. Tpon the same shaft with the gas pump 2'2 is. an air pump 24. holh pumps being operated by an electric motor .25. .-\ir is delivered to'lhe expansion rhamlmr i"). "as and air arr carried respectively by pipes ,2? end '23 in the burner 3:7 pf

the -calorimeter 3-1. -'I' he heat generated by the burning of the gas influences an indicator 29 upon the calorimeter\ to move in rsponse to the instantaneous calorific value of the gas.

- An adjustable arm 30 of brass or other suitabl'e'metal is fixed to the calorimeter casand suitably electrically insulated therefrom. Connectcd'to the end of the adjustable arm 80 is a stirrup shaped wire 31 which is placed .oyer the end of the indicator 29. One terminal of the electrical circuit 32, conta'ining a battery 33,or other suitable source this circuit is included'an electric bell 36 or other suitable signal device.

of current, is connected to the adjustable arm and the other terminal of the circuit is connected to the casing-ofthe calorimeter 34 and thus also to the indicator29. In

When the oil feed' becomes more or lab clogged; the calotific value of the gas drawn by the pipe fll-jfrom the gas delivery conduit. 4 c instantly due tothe continuitv of feed '0 the mixturethrou'gh the retort. result of theclog'ging of the valve 18 with the co uent decrease in otf'fe'd, reduces a change in the combustion within 1: retott or,one of lower and. produces a leaner n'ction of the gas calorific value; As a mood is constantly diverted achange in ment of the indicatceflt) which, if the clog- :cnlorifie value of the gas results in a move-- ing is serious enough, c'lOSQS the electrical circuit including wire 31. the arm It". the conductor lit-and batten 33. and sounds analarm. in this case ringing in hell 3' The attendant nay then easily remove the Ulls'truction by. completely closin evening up the needle valve ans finall'v returning thepointcr '20 to its normal position. .What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States. is

. The combination-of an apparatus-comprie mg aretort and valve controlled means for supplying to said retort a mixture of airf and aliguid combustible. a calorimetrie de-- vice, [pump for supplying to said defire a mixture ofairand a phrt'of the reaction products from said retort, an electric alarm device, an electric supply circuit for energieing and alarm device connected to a moving element of said calorimetric device. and an adjustable stirrup-shaped contact adapted to contact pith said'morable-elem'ent to comand then i plete thecirdzuit of said alarm when the 

